DAVID Cameron has accused Boris Johnson and Michael Gove of leaving “the truth at home” during the 2016 Brexit referendum.
In an interview to publicise the the publication of his memoir, For the Record, the former prime minister also said that he thinks about the fallout of Leave’s victory every day.
However, the vote on the UK’s membership of the EU was, he adds “inevitable”.
Speaking to the Times, Cameron said: “I think about this every day. Every single day I think about it, the referendum and the fact that we lost and the consequences and the things that could have been done differently, and I worry desperately about what is going to happen next.
“I think we can get to a situation where we leave but we are friends, neighbours and partners. We can get there, but I would love to fast-forward to that moment because it’s painful for the country and it’s painful to watch.”
Cameron also says that despite the happy tune he was caught humming on the steps of No 10 in the seconds after he announced his resignation, he wasn’t happy to be leaving.
“I was miserable about giving up the job I loved and working for the country I loved,” he said. “I was miserable about it.”
Asked if he was depressed, he replied: “Yes, hugely depressed about it.”
Cameron has spent three years on the memoir, spending much of his time writing it inside a £25,000 shepherd’s hut in the garden of his Oxford home.
In the book he writes that Johnson and Gove behaved “appallingly” during the referendum campaign.
He told The Times: “I think what I say is that over the issue of whether or not we had a veto over Turkey, and over the issue of the £350 million on the bus, I think they left the truth at home.”
But the former prime minister said he wants Johnson to succeed. “Look, he’s got a very clear strategy and plan,” Cameron said. “It’s, you know, not the approach that I would have taken, but I want him to succeed.”
He also says a second Brexit referendum can’t be ruled out “because we’re stuck.”
Meanwhile, Johnson has said that he is “cautiously optimistic” about negotiating a new deal with Brussels.
He is due to meet Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, in Luxembourg on Monday.
Johnson said: “We are working incredibly hard to get a deal. There is the rough shape of the deal to be done.” He added: “I’m seeing the president of the [European] Commission and the chief negotiator, Michel Barnier on Monday and we will talk about the ideas that we’ve been working on and we will see where we get. I would say I’m cautiously optimistic.”
A European Commission spokeswoman said that Juncker was “looking forward to working constructively” with Johnson.
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